Early involvement in petty theft and behavioral disorders in grade school

Low Income

7. HOW MANY GIRLS ARE INVOLVED IN GANGS?

Threre are approximately 32,000 teenage female gang members

There are approximately 48,000 adult female gang members

60% of gangs do not allow female members. (Girls hang around, go to parties, but are not considered "members."

40% of gangs allow female members, but only 1 out of 10 members is a girl

There are very few all girl gangs. Only 2% of all gangs are female only.

Female gang members commit fewer crimes and violence: Their incarcerations tend to be for drug use, larceny, petty theft, status offenses or domestic issues (e.g.,fights with parents and runaway).

In the U.S., there are approximately 14,000 girls in correctional placement versus 90,000 boys. The majority of the 14,000 girls have some gang affiliation, but how many is not clear. .

70% of girls in jail report having been sexually abused or victimized as children

65% of girls in jail have a psychological issue such as clinical depression or generalized anxiety vs 30% for boys (although this number is increasing).

26% of girls in jail have been in special education. Although there are far fewer girls than boys in special education, girls who do have learning problems are at very high risk for gang association.

8. WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR GIRLS WHO JOIN GANGS?

School failure and learning disabilities: One out of three girls in gangs have been in special education

Lack of involvement in positive activities in or out of school

Sexual abuse and victimization

Family dysfunction

Low Income

Early drug use and sexual activity

Emotional disorders

Exposure to violence

9. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT GANG INVOLVEMENT ON iNDIAN RESERVATIONS?

23% of reservations in a goverment study reported up to 40 active gangs.

80% of gang members in this study were male, and 3 out of 4 were under 18 yrs.Reservation Gang members are mostly teenagers, not adults. The opposite of city gangs

20% of gang members on Native reservations are girls versus 6%-11% off the reservation.10% of gangs reported that half their members were female. The Point: Girls who live on reservations join gangs at a higher rate than off-reservation

78% of gang members on reservations were Native American, BUT 22% were non-Indian youths living on or near the reservation (Black, Hispanic, Caucasian).

A gang survey on the Navajo reservation found that gang members did not know their native language, were alienated from the culture; had no positive activities; had severe difficulty in school, early drug/alcohol use; and came from more dysfunctional homes with greater poverty than non-gang members.

If you look at the numbers, more youth join gangs on many reservations than do in cities. The reasons for this are obvious: On these reservations there is little employment for teens, lack of activities for youth, and extremely high poverty. Look at articles 10, 11 and 12 below for more info